Parkour. Who knew?

So according to the Crazy Calendar, today is National Soft Ice Cream Day.  A human treat, that REALLY isn't all that good for us dogs - because the lactose COULD cause stomach upset.  But, everything in moderation.  A BITE of an ice cream come will GENERALLY not be harmful to most dogs.  But if you want a non-lactose EASY alternative, freeze two bananas, put them in a blender, and voila - banana soft serve.  Safe for us dogs.  You can also freeze it after blending, if you want a more solid version..

But speaking of soft serve ICE CREAM - GUESS who got to go back on the waterfront for another walk the other night?!  Yup.  The FG.  For SOME reason, Worry Wart thinks he needs socialization.  I'm not sure why - he practically knocks over neighbors if he meets them - and he IS VERY sociable.  Probably a bit more than us PONs.  But she has something up her sleeve - so she wants to get him out.  And get THIS - he even got a BITE of ice cream too. 

In the meantime, Einstein and I continue to enjoy the marrow bone zone.  It's almost a comatose state.  That's a tough call:  soft serve ice cream or a bone.  I think I'll take the bone. 

Hey - you know my human prides herself on THINKING she knows a bit about dog sports.  She's even tried and competed in a number of them including obedience, rally, draft, agility, and a working certificate (which is basic field work).  We also TRIED herding - but we know how that turned out - for us PONs.  And there are LOADS of other activities - tracking, lure coursing, barn hunts, dock diving, and disc catching.  Some sports are better for some dogs than others.  I can't exactly envision a Saint Bernard catching discs.  It probably wouldn't be a good idea. 

Another sport is treibball.  My human saw it on the internet once and went out and bought one of those giant balls to see if she could get us to do it.  It's kind of like a combination of herding and soccer.  Check out this dog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBJ9DVp9dyM

So we have this big ball.  I hate it, Einstein likes to push it around - but where HE wants it to go and the other day, my human witnessed the FG peeing on the ball.  I guess that's his opinion on treibball.

But the latest sport she JUST found out about is canine parkour.  Who knew about this one?!  It's all about a human and dog approaching a variety of obstacles in the environment. Apparently you can even get an international title by sending in a video to the International Dog Parkour Association, demonstrating a series of prescribed exercises.  Check out his novice routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTqirE9epOI 

If you want more info on the details and rules, check out this site:
http://www.dogparkour.org/

Worry Wart thinks Einstein could PROBABLY pass the beginner level.  So you know she'll be getting him to hop up in logs in the woods from now on.  Poor Einstein.

So there are lots of cool things you humans can do with your dog.  And after a hard day at any sport, time for an ice cream.  Or a frozen banana!

Have a good one!